Single crystal growth of oxides and refractory materials

The growth of large single crystals of various oxides and dielectrics has been made possible by the use of Image furnaces. These optical image furnaces are equipped with either halogen or arc lamps of sufficient power to melt most oxide and refractory materials. The floating zone method of crystal growth used in these furnaces, often produces crystals of superior quality, circumventing most of the problems associated with for example, flux growth from the melt. This method enables large volumes of crystals to be obtained, a prerequisite for some experiments involving neutrons. The paper discusses the crystal growth of several classes of materials, ranging from magnetic and superconducting oxides to refractory materials such as borides using image furnaces.